PUBLIC SCULPTURE COMPETITION

Public Sculpture Competition Briefing on June 6 from 12h00 to 14h00.

EThekwini Municipality is inviting visual artists to conceptualise and produce a public monumental art work (not less than 5 metres high) for the City's first Annual Public Sculpture Competition.

Preliminary two-dimensional or three-dimensional visual ideas should be prepared for consideration by an independent adjudicating panel. The artist of a winning entry will be commissioned to execute an artwork of monumental scale that will be installed in a strategic spatial spot in Durban. The creation should add to the existing aesthetic hallmarks of the City (such as the Moses Mabhida Stadium). This work should serve as a major visual anchor that embraces the unique identity of Durban, and make a compelling statement about creativity and art in the age of numerous global changes. It must also enhance the status of Durban as a dominant cultural capital of the province of KwaZulu-Natal.

Some of the qualities of innovativeness that competing artists should bear in mind include the following:

The work should easily lend itself to being viewed as a compellingly appealing creation. This appeal should defy the passing of time and outsiders should wish to return to Durban in order to meditate in front of its grandeur. It may possess both fine art and utilitarian qualities but durable enough to defy deterioration factors..

The work should be controversial in terms of raising socially relevant issues that are often taken for granted. It should be forceful enough to kindle contestations around issues that are often treated as hot potatoes by ordinary citizens and those in positions of power.

The work should be accessible through the senses of sight, touch and hearing (a highly developed technology can make this ideal come true without being environmentally unfriendly - no strain on energy resources). The artist may even use the work as a simulation of the City clock tower, marking the spot as a directional device even for the partially sighted.

The winning artist will receive an amount of R250 000. An appropriate production fee will be provided.

Entry forms will be available at the Durban Art Gallery and the Natural Science Museum from June 6, 2011. All interested artists are required to submit the entry form, which must be accompanied by a proposal (this must include relevant visual aids such as drawings) and a CV with two contactable references by June 30, 2011, to the Durban Art Gallery. Submissions must be both in electronic and hard-copy form.

A briefing session for interested artists will be held on June 6 at 12h00 at the Durban Art Gallery. A shortlist of seven artists will then be drawn up, and the selected artists will be asked to submit detailed proposals, including maquettes by June 25. The final work must be finished and ready for unveiling by September 23, 2011.

For more information contact the Durban Art Gallery Education Officer, Ms Witty Nyide or email NyideW@durban.gov.za

(Considering the recent debacle of Andries Botha’s statue of King Shaka at the new airport and his series of elephants at Warwick Avenue, artists are advised to be completely aware of what is required of them and to understand their intellectual property rights. See www.facebook.com/pages/Save...Elephant.../305226519506)